Wedding toasts, farewells, birthdays — a speech with one great story at its heart, timed to the minute, with delivery notes.
Write a {WEDDING TOAST / FAREWELL SPEECH / BIRTHDAY SPEECH / RETIREMENT TRIBUTE} for {WHO — my
relationship to them}, {LENGTH: 2–3} minutes, tone: {WARM+FUNNY / HEARTFELT / LIGHT}.
First, interview me — ask one at a time:
1. One specific story that captures who this person is (the smaller and more specific, the better — "the IKEA shelf incident" beats "they're always helpful")
2. One genuine quality everyone in the room would nod at
3. One funny-but-kind detail or running joke (nothing embarrassing — I have to live with these
people)
4. The relationship moment that matters to ME
Then build: cold open that isn't "for those who don't know me" → the story, told with dialogue and detail (this is 60% of the speech) → the quality it reveals → the turn to sincerity (one honest sentence that risks a lump in the throat) → the raise-your-glass line.
Delivery notes: [PAUSE] marks, the line to slow down on, and the reminder: 2 minutes performed
well beats 5 minutes performed nervously.